[Wednesday, October 6th, 1993 1:01pm]

Zack found himself sitting in a completely empty room in front of a table. The only light was the one that hung overhead, making it difficult for him to see anything else in the room. It could have been a huge room, or it could have been very small, but with such poor lighting it was difficult to tell. The only thing he could make out was a mirror on the opposite side of the room, which Zack had seen enough crime dramas on television to know it was two way glass, and a handheld video camera was set up on a tripod a few feet from him. Judging by the red light that occasionally flashed, he concluded it was recording.

While he wasn't sure how long he'd been in there, he knew it was longer than he wanted to be. There were other things happening, more important things, and he had to get out of there. Images of Kimberly laying there in the dirt covered in her own blood haunted him. Being a power ranger, having access to power beyond his wildest dreams gave him the false impression that they were indestructible. The suits granted them power, and even unmorphed, he felt strong. It never occurred to him that any of them would fall to something as small as a stab wound.

What did this mean for the group, he wondered. With Kimberly gone, he'd lost a teammate and a friend. They were a ranger short, but the job wasn't done. Rita was still trying to take over the Earth, and even though none of them would openly say it, her monsters were getting harder and harder to defeat. It was only a matter of time before Rita launched an attack they wouldn't be able to stop, and with one ranger down, it would be even more difficult to finally defeat her.

His thoughts were broken as he heard a door open, and he noticed the figure of someone walking into the room. As they came closer, Zack realized it was someone in the military, but he didn't recognize the uniform. The soldier officer with a vanilla folder in his hand. He placed the folder on the table and opened it, reviewing the contents.

"Taylor, Zachary T, born September 16th, 1976. That makes you what? 17? A junior at Angel Grove High School?"

"Yes, sir,"

"You're in a lot of trouble, you know that, Zachary?"

"What? How?"

"You were found on the scene of an attempted murder, which was also private property. There was over $100,000 in property damage done to the construction site, and Kimberly Hart is laying in a hospital in critical condition," he told him.

Zack let out a sigh of relief. "She's alright? I thought she was…"

"Weren't you listening? She's in critical condition. The weapon used to stab her through the chest hasn't been recovered, but she's lucky it was only a few inches away from her heart. Three inches to the left and she would have been dead instantly. Your friends say it was some sort of monster attack, but we didn't find any evidence of that. You and your friends are suspects, and seeing as how you are covered in blood, which I'm sure forensics will determine is Kimberly Hart's blood, that makes you the prime suspect," he explained.

"I… I was only trying to help her. She's my friend," he sighed.

"What were the four of you doing there? That construction site is off limits and the property manager is ready to press charges on all three of you. A lot of his work was destroyed and you've set his timetable back by 6 months. You and your friends are in a world of trouble right now. The last thing you need to do is lie to me. Tell me the truth and I may be able to help you out of this," he said.

Four, Zack thought to himself, quickly realizing that Billy wasn't near them when the police arrived. He was no doubt doing whatever it took to seal the rupture, but the fact that the officers didn't know anything about it meant he'd gotten away…

… or there was problem.

"I already told you the truth. There was some sort of monster attack. The power rangers were there and stopped him, then they left."

"Why were you there?"

"We were just looking for a place to hide. There was a monster on the loose and we wanted to stay out of the way," Zack said.

"Your story doesn't add up, Taylor," he stared Zack up and down. "I couldn't help but notice you're wearing all black. Are you in some sort of gang, Taylor?"

"What? No!"

"There have been rumors of some kind of underground fight club taking place in that area in the evenings, but we haven't been able to catch anyone there until now. I looked you up. You're famous for a form of martial arts you created yourself. What's it called?"

"Hip Hop Kido," he said quietly, almost as if he was embarrassed.

"So you're a known martial artists found on the scene of a known underground fighting ring where a cheerleader was stabbed in the chest. This doesn't look good for you, Taylor. Help me help you, Zackery. You're not walking out of this place until you give me the truth," the soldier told him.

"I didn't do anything wrong, none of us. I did tell you the truth, now let me go," Zack insisted.

"Go? The only place you're going is jail. I wouldn't be surprised if…" he was cut short as the door opened again, and another soldier stepped into the room. Behind him were two men in suits and one young lady in a lab coat and glasses.

"Lieutenant, a word?"

The soldier stood up, heading over to the door. Zack couldn't overhear the conversation, but from what he could hear, it didn't sound good at all. He'd told as much of the truth as he could, but if he was ever going to find Tommy and make him pay for what he did to Kimberly, he had to get out of that room.

A few moments later, the first soldier exited the room, and the man walked over to Zack. "Mr. Taylor, may I see your see your hands?" he asked.

Zack lifted his hands out of his lap, revealing he was still handcuffed. The soldier quickly uncuffed him as he sat down. "Is that better?"

"Yes, sir," he said, rubbing his wrists slightly.

The soldier walked over to the video camera, turning it off and spinning it around to face the wall, then sat down in the empty chair across from him.

"Zackery, my name is Commander William Mitchell. You thirsty?" he asked.

"Yes, sir."

The commander motioned towards the mirror, and within moments, a police officer hurried into the room, presenting Zack with a glass of water. Zack quickly took a few sips, then set it down on the table.

"I've seen your file, you're a good kid, Zack. We know you didn't do this, but it doesn't change the fact that one of your friends is laying in a hospital fighting for her life. If you know anything about it, you need to tell me now so we can get the son of a bitch who did it," he said.

It wasn't the sort of thing that the police could handle, and Zack knew that. The Angel Grove police department was no match for Rita Rupulsa and her monsters, and even if they were, he was determined that he would be the one to track Tommy down and make sure justice was served.

"I told the other officer everything I know, sir. Honestly," he said.

Commander Mitchell lifted up a small bag, putting it on the table. He reached in, pulling out Zack's morpher, placing it on the table in front of him.

"Can you tell me what this is?" he asked.

"Its nothing. Just a toy."

"Seems both your friends had one as well, but they were slightly different. What does it do?"

"Nothing until you take it home and connect it to the other part. Like Magic the Gathering," he explained.

"Can you show me how to play?"

"I can't, not without all the cards. I left them at home," he said.

"I see," he let out a sigh. "I have no reason to hold you here, but I can't release you until your parents come for you. We tried contacting your mother but she was unavailable," he said.

"My mom works alot. It's just me, her and my brothers."

"And your father?"

Zack put his head down slightly. "I never met him."

"I understand," he paused. "I'm going to return your belongings to you and release you, but if you come across any information I expect you to contact me immediately. You understand?" he asked, reaching in his pocket, producing a card and handing it to Zack.

"Yes sir," he responded, accepting the card and slipping it into his back pocket.

Zack stood up, extending his hand to him. The two of them shook firmly, and Zack gathered his belongings, walking out of the room. As he left, the men in suits and woman in the lab coat stepped into the room, standing in front of Commander Mitchell.

"Were you able to confirm it?"

"Nothing conclusive, but I'm sure his DNA sample will confirm what we already suspect," he said.

The young woman slid a pair of rubber gloves on each of her hands before picking the cup up, placing it in a plastic bag, sealing it. "I'll get this to the lab ASAP," she told him.

"Should I have him followed?" another one of the men asked.

"No, if they really are power rangers, they won't be hard to find," he assured him. "Besides, not only did I put a nano tracker in the water he drank, I'm going to take one of his friends back to base for further questioning."

"I notice you didn't tell him about his father."

"One thing at a time, doctor. There are bigger fish to fry," he reminded her.

"As you wish, commander."